The speech focuses on more than the MIC and he mentions other dangers such as changes to scientific development. The archives.gov page should do more analysis on it. The interests in the MIC lines distorts the underlying message of the speech, which is that the changes the US underwent during Ike's presidency had major risks/failure modes, that though Ike thought necessary and developed vigorously, he would also not be able to help with going forward, and that it would require the American people to guard against those risks. To "Use my work justly."
It only took two years for the US
to struggle with the changes he helped bring about, in which a lesser president risked nuclear war to save political face.
Reminds me very much of Johnny's "Can we survive technology?", letter in harper's, written while he was dying.
This is also an interesting read of Eisenhower's speech's from an Australian student's perspective and also raises details of his presidency that are often forgotten.
On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex."
In a speech of less than 10 minutes, on January 17, 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his political farewell to the American people on national television from the Oval Office of the White House. Those who expected the military leader and hero of World War II to depart his Presidency with a nostalgic, "old soldier" speech like Gen. Douglas MacArthur's, were surprised at his strong warnings about the dangers of the "military-industrial complex."
As President of the United States for two terms, Eisenhower had slowed the push for increased defense spending despite pressure to build more military equipment during the Cold War’s arms race. Nonetheless, the American military services and the defense industry had expanded a great deal in the 1950s. Eisenhower thought this growth was needed to counter the Soviet Union, but it confounded him. Though he did not say so explicitly, his standing as a military leader helped give him the credibility to stand up to the pressures of this new, powerful interest group. He eventually described it as a necessary evil.
It only took two years for the US to struggle with the changes he helped bring about, in which a lesser president risked nuclear war to save political face.
Reminds me very much of Johnny's "Can we survive technology?", letter in harper's, written while he was dying.
https://geosci.uchicago.edu/~kite/doc/von_Neumann_1955.pdf
Ike is also very particular with words and has several other good speeches. I like the "multiplicity of fears" section of his speech in 54.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-new...
This is also an interesting read of Eisenhower's speech's from an Australian student's perspective and also raises details of his presidency that are often forgotten.
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Ideal-America(n)%3...